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{{Spoiler|HM|PAS|MA|HL}}
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{{Real world subject}}
 
{{Creature infobox
 
{{Creature infobox
 
|image = Spiders.JPG
|name=Spider
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|name = Spider
|image=[[File:Spiders.JPG|250px]]
 
 
|skin =
|bgcolor1=
 
 
|eyes = Black
|bgcolor2=
 
 
|hair = Varies
|sentience=
 
 
|feathers =
|skin=
 
 
|related = *[[Acromantula]]<ref name="FBR"/>
|eyes=
 
  +
*[[Scorpion]]
|hair=
 
 
|native = Worldwide
|feathers=
 
 
|alias =
|related=[[Acromantula]]
 
 
|height = Varies
|native=
 
 
|length = Varies
|alias=
 
 
|wingspan =
|height=
 
  +
|mortality = Mortal
|length=
 
 
|distinction = *Eight legs and eyes
|wingspan=
 
  +
*Pincers
|distinction=Eight legs and eyes
 
  +
*Carnivorous
|affiliation=
 
  +
*Some species [[Poison|venomous]]
|class=
 
 
|affiliation =
|status=
 
 
|class = Varies
 
|status = Extant
 
}}
 
}}
{{Quote|If you must know, when I was three, [[Fred Weasley|Fred]] turned my - my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy [[broomstick]]... You wouldn't like it either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and... |[[Ronald Weasley|Ron Weasley]] about his fear of spiders|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets}}
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{{Quote|If you must know, when I was three, [[Fred Weasley|Fred]] [[Teddy bear to spider|turned]] my - my [[teddy bear]] into a great big filthy spider because I broke his [[toy broomstick]]... You wouldn't like it either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and... |[[Ronald Weasley|Ron Weasley]] on the origin of his arachnophobia|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets}}
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'''Spiders''' are eight-legged and eight-eyed arachnids.<ref name="wiki">{{Wikilink|Spider}}</ref>
   
  +
==Description==
'''Spiders''' are small (with the exception of the [[Acromantula]]) eight-legged and eight-eyed creatures. They are very common and come in many species, varying from region to region; all are carnivorous and some are [[Poison|venomous]], but for the most part they are relatively harmless and can sometimes be used as a [[Potion|potion]] ingredient. The largest species of spider is the Acromantula, which also has the ability to speak. Spiders are known for spinning webs. The webs of the Acromantula are large and dome-shaped. Spiders of all sizes fear the [[Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk|Basilisk]] above all other things, which caused those at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]] to flee into the [[Forbidden Forest]] in the [[1992–1993 school year]]. [[File:Spider.png|thumb|250px|A great spider that Ron must fight in the classroom]] [[Ronald Weasley|Ron Weasley]] is arachnophobic, meaning that he is deathly afraid of spiders, though he does not mind them if they are dead. The Tarantula is a family of spiders, examples of which can be found for sale in [[Knockturn Alley]]. The spell [[Arania Exumai]] knocks spiders back. [[Bartemius Crouch Jr.|Barty Crouch Jr.]], disguised as [[Alastor Moody]], taught his fourth year [[Defence Against the Dark Arts]] class the use of the [[Unforgivable Curses]], performing one of each of the three curses on one of each of [[Alastor Moody's spiders|three spiders]] (a tailless whipscorpion in the movie). Spiders like living in dark places like the [[4 Privet Drive|cupboard under the stairs]], [[The Burrow|Broomsheds]], and even the [[Forbidden Forest]]. In 1995 they find spiders as big as saucers in a dresser in the dining room of [[12 Grimmauld Place]] (Ron left the room to make a cup of tea and didn't return until they were gone). These creatures can also be found in the [[Muggle]] universe. They eat the dead bodies once they die. [[File:Spider2.png|thumb|250px|The face of a spider]]
 
  +
[[File:Spiders legs.png|150px|thumb|left|[[Spider Legs]]]]
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They are very common and come in many species, varying from region to region; all are carnivorous and some are [[Poison|venomous]], but for the most part they are relatively harmless and could sometimes be used as a [[potion]] ingredient.<ref name="COS9">{{COS|B|9}}</ref><ref name="PM">{{PM}}</ref>
   
  +
[[File:Acromantula.png|150px|thumb|left|The Acromantula]]
==Types of Spiders==
 
  +
The largest species of spider was the [[Acromantula]], a [[Wizardkind|wizard]]-bred species which also had the ability to speak, along with being extremely dangerous carnivores with a taste for [[human]] [[flesh]].<ref name="FBR">{{FB|R}}</ref> Spiders are known for spinning webs. The webs of the Acromantula were large and dome-shaped.<ref name="COS15">{{COS|B|15}}</ref> Spiders of all sizes feared the [[Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk|Basilisk]] above all other things, which caused those at [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]] to flee into the [[Forbidden Forest]] in the [[1992–1993 school year]].<ref name="COS9"/><ref name="COS15">{{COS|B|15}}</ref>
* [[Acromantula]]
 
  +
* [[Brown recluse]]
 
  +
''[[Arania Exumai]]'' was the [[incantation]] for a [[charm]] that could be used to repel spiders by blasting them away, including [[Acromantula]]s.<ref name="COSF23">{{COS|F}}, Chapter 23 (''Tom Riddle'')</ref><ref name="COSF27">{{COS|F}}, Chapter 27 (''Spider Attack'')</ref><ref name="HMy4ch14">{{HM|4|14|pt}}</ref><ref name="HM416">{{HM|4|16}}</ref> Spiders often inhabited dark environments, like the [[Cupboard Under the Stairs]],<ref name="PS2">{{PS|B|2}}</ref> [[The Burrow|Broomsheds]], and even the [[Forbidden Forest]].<ref name="COS15"/>
* [[Cocoon spider]]
 
  +
* [[Funnelweb spider]]
 
  +
==History==
* [[Large spider]]
 
  +
[[Acromantula]]s had existed by the [[1890–1891 school year]]. An Acromantula killed the [[house-elf]] [[Tobbs]] while in the [[Spinners Cavern]], but was later [[Skirmish in the Spinners Cavern|defeated]] by the [[Unidentified 19th-century Hogwarts student|new fifth-year Hogwarts student]].<ref name="HL PHE">{{HL|The Plight of the House-Elf}}</ref> [[Milo]] and his friend [[Edgar Adley]] went to the [[Forbidden Forest]] to extract [[Acromantula venom|venom]] from another Acromantula, which Milo named [[The Absconder]], but Milo was killed and Edgar fled. The Absconder was later also [[Skirmish in The Absconder's Cave|vanquished]] by the new fifth-year student.<ref name="HL AE">{{HL|Absconder Encounter}}</ref>
* [[Redback spider]]
 
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* [[Tarantula]]
 
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[[Thornback]] spiders also existed commonly in the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Highlands]] including the Forbidden Forest. Some infested [[Jackdaw's Tomb]] and were [[Break-in of Jackdaw's Tomb|encountered]] by the new fifth-year student.<ref name="HL JR">{{HL|Jackdaw's Rest}}</ref> [[Mary Portman]] secretly bred Thornback spiders at the [[Aranshire]] hamlet, which led to an [[Attack at Aranshire|attack]] on the residents, and Mary herself was also killed in her house. The new fifth-year student later arrived to investigate, and [[Skirmish in Mary Portman's Cellar|rooted the spiders out]] from [[Mary Portman's Cellar|Mary's cellar]].<ref name="HL TW">{{HL|Tangled Web}}</ref>
* [[Whitetail spider]]
 
  +
  +
[[File:Boggart morph.gif|250px|thumb|right|A [[Boggart]] taking the form of a giant spider ([[Aragog]]), to represent Ron's greatest fear]]
  +
[[Ronald Weasley]] was well-known for his arachnophobia, the irrational fear of spiders. However, he was fine if they were dead and he simply had to cut them up during potions.<ref name="COS9" /> During the [[1993–1994 school year]], Ron's [[Boggart]] manifested in the form of an Acromantula ([[Aragog]]) during a [[Third year|third-year]] [[Defence Against the Dark Arts]] lesson with [[Professor]] [[Remus Lupin|Lupin]].<ref name="POA7">{{POA|B|7}}</ref>
  +
  +
The [[Cupboard Under the Stairs]] was said to have a large amount of spiders living in it alongside Harry Potter, who did not mind them in the least. When [[Vernon Dursley]] bellowed "''Silence!''" at Harry when the boy interrupted him, a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling in response, likely startled by the noise.<ref name="PS2"/>
  +
  +
In [[October]] [[1992]], spiders fled Hogwarts when a [[Serpent of Slytherin|Basilisk]] was unleashed from the [[Chamber of Secrets]]. [[Harry Potter]], Ron and [[Hermione Granger]] notched their strange behaviour<ref name="COS9" /> and Hermione used it to piece together what was petrifying people in the school.<ref name="COS16">{{COS|B|16}}</ref>
  +
  +
The tarantula was a family of spiders, examples of which could be found for sale in [[Knockturn Alley]].<ref name="PS6">{{PS|B|6}}</ref> In [[Borgin and Burkes]], there was a cage that had living, huge black spiders in it.<ref name="COS4">{{COS|B|4}}</ref>
  +
  +
[[File:B4C14M1 DADA Unforgivable Curses.png|250px|thumb|left|Barty Crouch Junior (as Alastor Moody) teaching fourth year DADA students about the Unforgivable Curses using spiders]]
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[[Bartemius Crouch Junior|Barty Crouch Jnr]], [[Polyjuice Potion|disguised]] as [[Alastor Moody]], taught his [[Fourth year|fourth-year]] [[Defence Against the Dark Arts]] class the use of the [[Unforgivable Curses]], performing one of each of the three [[curse]]s on one of each of [[Alastor Moody's spiders|three spiders]].<ref name="GOF14">{{GOF|B|14}}</ref> In [[1995]], the trio found spiders as big as saucers in a dresser in the dining room of [[12 Grimmauld Place]], with Ron leaving the room to make a cup of tea and did not return until they were gone, due to his aforementioned Arachnophobia.<ref name="OOTP6">{{OOTP|B|6}}</ref>
  +
  +
[[Mr. Spindle's Lick "O" Rish Spiders]] were a wizarding confection shaped like spiders.<ref name="POAF">{{POA|F}} {{see image|File:MrSpindlesLickORishSpiders.jpg}}</ref>
  +
 
==Types of spiders==
 
*[[Acromantula]]
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**[[Venomous Matriarch]]
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**[[Venomous Scurriour]]
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**[[Venomous Ambusher]]
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**[[Venomous Hatchling]]
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**[[Venomous Shooter]]
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*[[Black widow]]
 
*[[Brown Recluse]]
 
*[[Cocoon Spider]]
  +
*[[Giant Black Spider]]
  +
*[[Giant Spider]]
 
*[[Funnelweb spider]]
 
*[[Large spider]]
 
*[[Redback spider]]
 
*[[Tarantula]]
  +
*[[Thornback]]
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**[[Thornback Matriarch]]
  +
**[[Thornback Scurriour]]
  +
**[[Thornback Ambusher]]
  +
**[[Thornback Hatchling]]
  +
**[[Thornback Shooter]]
 
*[[Whitetail Spider]]
   
 
==Behind the scenes==
 
==Behind the scenes==
 
*In {{GOF|FA}}, the three [[Unforgivable Curses]] are demonstrated in the [[Defence Against the Dark Arts]] class on an {{W|Amblypygi|amblypygid}} (tailless whip scorpion),<ref name="GOFF7">{{GOF|F}}, Chapter 7 (''Mad Eye Moody'')</ref> which is in fact not a spider (or [[scorpion]]) but is a member of the same class.
[[File:Spider.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[Ronald Weasley|Ron Weasley]]'s fear of spiders.]]
 
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*[[Alastair]] was a spider found the first draft of {{PS|FA}}. He lived in the [[Cupboard Under the Stairs]] and Harry had befriended him, not having any other friends.<ref name="PS">[http://io9.com/5820032/ ''The Lost Harry Potter Character You Never Got to Meet''], [http://io9.com io9]</ref>
* In the [[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|film version]] of ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', the three [[Unforgivable Curses]] are demonstrated in the [[Defence Against the Dark Arts]] class on an [[Wikipedia:Amblypygi|Amblypygid]], which is in fact not a true spider but is a member of the same class.
 
  +
*The Boggart spider that Ron faced in {{POA|FA}} closely resembles a [[black widow]], with the exception of its size.
* [[Alastair]] was a spider found the first draft of the [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|film]] of ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]''. He lived in the [[Cupboard under the stairs]] and Harry had befriended him, not having any other friends.
 
  +
**At one point in the film adaptation, Ron wakes up from a nightmare in which spiders tried to make him tap dance. Harry, who was poring over the [[Marauder's Map]] at the time, told Ron to "tell those spiders" that he didn't want to dance, and he promptly fell back asleep.
   
 
==Appearances==
 
==Appearances==
  +
{{Imagecat|Images of spiders}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' {{1st}}
 
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*{{PS}} {{1st}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)]]''
 
  +
*{{PS|G}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''
 
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*{{COS}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)]]''
 
  +
*{{COS|F}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)]]''
 
  +
*{{COS|G}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]''
 
  +
*{{POA}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)]]''
 
  +
*{{POA|F}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)]]''
 
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*{{POA|G}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''
 
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*{{GOF}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)]]''
 
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*{{GOF|F}} {{C|Appears on DVD special features}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''
 
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*{{OOTP}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)]]''
 
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*{{HBP}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''
 
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*{{HBP|F}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1]]''
 
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*{{DH}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)]]''
 
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*{{DH|F1}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2]]''
 
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*{{DH|G1}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)]]''
 
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*{{DH|F2}}
*''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (real)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]''
 
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*{{DH|G2}}
*''[[Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book]]''
 
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*{{COG|S}} {{Mention}}
*''[[LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World]]''
 
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*{{FB|R}}
*''[[LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World]]''
 
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*{{JKRS}}
*''[[J.K.Rowling Official Site|J. K. Rowling's Official Site]]''
 
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*{{PM}}
*''[[LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4]]''
 
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*{{WW}}
*''[[LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7]]''
 
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*{{TCG}}
*''[[Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey]]''
 
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*{{HPV|CR}}
*''[[Harry Potter: Trading Card Game]]''
 
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*{{HPPU}}
*''[[LEGO Harry Potter|Harry Potter LEGO Sets]]''
 
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*{{HPFJ}}
*''[[Pottermore]]''
 
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*{{HPFS}}
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*{{MHP}}
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*{{LEGO}}
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*{{LEGO|B}}
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*{{LEGO|C}}
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*{{LEGO|C1}}
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*{{LEGO|C2}}
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*{{LEGO|Y1}}
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*{{LEGO|Y2}}
  +
*{{HM}}
  +
*{{WU}}
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*{{PAS}}
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*{{MA}}
  +
*{{HL}}
   
  +
==Notes and references==
{{creature-stub}}
 
  +
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Creatures]]
 
  +
[[de:Spinne]]
  +
[[es:Araña]]
  +
[[fr:Araignée]]
  +
[[pl:Pająk]]
  +
[[ru:Паук]]
 
[[Category:Boggart forms]]
 
[[Category:Potion ingredients]]
 
[[Category:Potion ingredients]]
 
[[Category:Spiders]]
 
[[Category:Spiders]]

Latest revision as of 15:04, 3 March 2024

"If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my - my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick... You wouldn't like it either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and... "
Ron Weasley on the origin of his arachnophobia[src]

Spiders are eight-legged and eight-eyed arachnids.[2]

Description

Spiders legs

Spider Legs

They are very common and come in many species, varying from region to region; all are carnivorous and some are venomous, but for the most part they are relatively harmless and could sometimes be used as a potion ingredient.[3][4]

Acromantula

The Acromantula

The largest species of spider was the Acromantula, a wizard-bred species which also had the ability to speak, along with being extremely dangerous carnivores with a taste for human flesh.[1] Spiders are known for spinning webs. The webs of the Acromantula were large and dome-shaped.[5] Spiders of all sizes feared the Basilisk above all other things, which caused those at Hogwarts to flee into the Forbidden Forest in the 1992–1993 school year.[3][5]

Arania Exumai was the incantation for a charm that could be used to repel spiders by blasting them away, including Acromantulas.[6][7][8][9] Spiders often inhabited dark environments, like the Cupboard Under the Stairs,[10] Broomsheds, and even the Forbidden Forest.[5]

History

Acromantulas had existed by the 1890–1891 school year. An Acromantula killed the house-elf Tobbs while in the Spinners Cavern, but was later defeated by the new fifth-year Hogwarts student.[11] Milo and his friend Edgar Adley went to the Forbidden Forest to extract venom from another Acromantula, which Milo named The Absconder, but Milo was killed and Edgar fled. The Absconder was later also vanquished by the new fifth-year student.[12]

Thornback spiders also existed commonly in the Scottish Highlands including the Forbidden Forest. Some infested Jackdaw's Tomb and were encountered by the new fifth-year student.[13] Mary Portman secretly bred Thornback spiders at the Aranshire hamlet, which led to an attack on the residents, and Mary herself was also killed in her house. The new fifth-year student later arrived to investigate, and rooted the spiders out from Mary's cellar.[14]

Boggart morph

A Boggart taking the form of a giant spider (Aragog), to represent Ron's greatest fear

Ronald Weasley was well-known for his arachnophobia, the irrational fear of spiders. However, he was fine if they were dead and he simply had to cut them up during potions.[3] During the 1993–1994 school year, Ron's Boggart manifested in the form of an Acromantula (Aragog) during a third-year Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Lupin.[15]

The Cupboard Under the Stairs was said to have a large amount of spiders living in it alongside Harry Potter, who did not mind them in the least. When Vernon Dursley bellowed "Silence!" at Harry when the boy interrupted him, a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling in response, likely startled by the noise.[10]

In October 1992, spiders fled Hogwarts when a Basilisk was unleashed from the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione Granger notched their strange behaviour[3] and Hermione used it to piece together what was petrifying people in the school.[16]

The tarantula was a family of spiders, examples of which could be found for sale in Knockturn Alley.[17] In Borgin and Burkes, there was a cage that had living, huge black spiders in it.[18]

B4C14M1 DADA Unforgivable Curses

Barty Crouch Junior (as Alastor Moody) teaching fourth year DADA students about the Unforgivable Curses using spiders

Barty Crouch Jnr, disguised as Alastor Moody, taught his fourth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts class the use of the Unforgivable Curses, performing one of each of the three curses on one of each of three spiders.[19] In 1995, the trio found spiders as big as saucers in a dresser in the dining room of 12 Grimmauld Place, with Ron leaving the room to make a cup of tea and did not return until they were gone, due to his aforementioned Arachnophobia.[20]

Mr. Spindle's Lick "O" Rish Spiders were a wizarding confection shaped like spiders.[21]

Types of spiders

Behind the scenes

Appearances

Wiki
The Harry Potter Wiki has 71 images related to Spider.

Notes and references

  1. 1.0 1.1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  2. WP favicon Spider on Wikipedia
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 9 (The Writing on the Wall)
  4. Pottermore
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 15 (Aragog)
  6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film), Chapter 23 (Tom Riddle)
  7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film), Chapter 27 (Spider Attack)
  8. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 14 (The Spider's Lair) - Private Transfiguration Lesson "Arania Exumai"
  9. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 4, Chapter 16 (The Forest Vault)
  10. 10.0 10.1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 2 (The Vanishing Glass)
  11. Hogwarts Legacy, Side Quest "The Plight of the House-Elf"
  12. Hogwarts Legacy, Side Quest "Absconder Encounter"
  13. Hogwarts Legacy, Main Quest "Jackdaw's Rest"
  14. Hogwarts Legacy, Side Quest "Tangled Web"
  15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 7 (The Boggart in the Wardrobe)
  16. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 16 (The Chamber of Secrets)
  17. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 6 (The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters)
  18. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 4 (At Flourish and Blotts)
  19. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 14 (The Unforgivable Curses)
  20. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 6 (The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black)
  21. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (see this image)
  22. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film), Chapter 7 (Mad Eye Moody)
  23. The Lost Harry Potter Character You Never Got to Meet, io9